My Cute Cherry Blossom
by strawhat luffy krian
Summary: Uchiha Obito never attacked the village, and the Nine Tails was never extracted from Uzumaki Kushina. Minato and Kushina were blessed with their first baby, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto encounters a beautiful pink-haired girl in his first days, who he could only describe as "cute" to his parents. Her name, he does not know yet.
1. Chapter 1

**My Cute Cherry Blossom**

**Full Summary: **Uchiha Obito never attacked the village, and the Nine Tails was never extracted from Uzumaki Kushina. Minato and Kushina were blessed with their first baby, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto encounters a beautiful pink-haired girl in his first days, who he could only describe as "cute" to his parents. Her name, he does not know yet.

**Main Pairings: **NaruSaku, although a bit later in the story.

**A/N: **Hello, minna-san. Welcome to my fourth fanfic, and my second Naruto fanfic. I hope you will all enjoy this fanfic as much as the others I have written ;) Truly, thank you for all the support you have given me so far. I hope that I will continue to impress you all with my stories, and that will be my will to write more in the future. Read and review at the end of this chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. If I did, well you know by now that NaruSaku would have been canon and that Minato and Kushina would be smiling on them down happily from heaven, having showering them with their blessings.

_Thank you, Kushina_

Kushina Uzumaki lay in the cave she was currently in, panting. Truthfully, she had never been so exhausted in her entire life. Sure enough there were missions she had gone on in her younger days with her team, and her best friend Mikoto Uchiha was always there so if she was exhausted she could just lean on her back and allow herself to be carried back to the village. This time, however, Mikoto wasn't there to support her. Even though she had her loving husband Minato there with her, he couldn't even begin to guess the pain that came with giving birth. Sure enough he was the Hokage, but there were some things that even the strongest man in the village at the moment could not hope to solve. The cries of her newborn baby made her so happy, and at least that was one joy that the two parents could both indulge in.

Naruto Uzumaki had just been born, and Biwako Sarutobi describing him as "a healthy babe", only uplifted Kushina's spirits. To her right, Minato was crying. Shedding tears of joy, the red-haired woman could not remember the last time she had seen her husband crying like this. Trying to remember, she fondly remembered how he had hugged her when he had received news of her pregnancy. He did not cry however. Tears welled up in her eyes too, and she let them fall freely down her face, since she barely lacked the strength to wipe them off anyway.

She had to chuckle, however, when Minato pouted as Biwako refused him the priviledge of seeing his newborn son first. Honestly, Minato could not get any more handsome than that. When her baby was placed next to her, she could not help but smile at the bundle of joy in front of her. He had his father's hair, so she naturally added up that he would grow up to be a man all the ladies in the village would trip over. His eyes were still shut. Kushina had a nagging feeling that his eyes would also be the same as his father's sky-blue ones too. She chuckled a little when she thought of how strikingly similar he would look to his old man when he was grown up. On his cheeks lay whisker marks, which Kushina was a bit surprised to find there. The Third Hokage would probably describe it as an effect of being the son to the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki, and she couldn't even begin to imagine the looks he would get from his classmates on his first day at school.

Biwako then took away the kid to properly clean him, reassuring Kushina that, "You'll have loads of time later." Kushina nodded feebly, and as Biwako went with the other midwifes to the rear of the cave where a basin of fairly hot water lay. Kushina felt a hand close up above hers, and the familiar warmth of the hand told her that it was Minato. She looked up into those blue eyes, which always seemed to look at her in a deep way. Minato had tears still streaming down his face, and this made Kushina want to leap into his arms and embrace him. She actually cursed the fact that she could not move under those conditions, so she was content with having her hand held like that, by the man who stole her heart. His lips opened up to mutter the words, "Thank you, Kushina."

"Minato…..Thank you so much," she managed to reply. Minato smiled at her, a smile that she had grown accustomed to over the years that they had now been married together. He then let go of her hand and then placed his two hands over Kushina's stomach area, where a black mass of a substance that looked like goo had started rising up. Kushina could not imagine how much the Nine-Tails wanted to escape from its vessel, so hearing Minato say the words," Reseal," put her at more of ease. The Nine Tails wouldn't be able to escape from its vessel, at least not yet, anyway. The black substance retreated into her body, and she felt a slight pain. Minato covered her exposed skin, and she was back to normal. Well, excluding the fact that she had just come from delivering her first baby.

Biwako reappeared minutes later, having wrapped Naruto in new, clean clothes. He was sleeping peacefully in her arms, causing Biwako to smile at the sleeping form that lay in her arms. She fondly remembered the way she felt when she held the infant Sarutobi Asuma in her arms the same way a few years earlier, and not wanting the two new parents in front of her to see her crying, she quickly made to leave the cave. "I'll go and report to my husband, The Third Hokage, that the birth was a success and that the Nine Tails has been successfully resealed into Kushina-sama's body. I'll wait for you at the Hokage's office, Minato. Make sure you come there as soon as you've taken her home to rest." Minato nodded, and Biwako left the cave alongside the two midwives who were with her.

Minato went to the resting form of Kushina, and picked her gently into his arms. Kushina was beside herself with joy, and decided to tease her husband a little. "What? No Flying Raijin for your wife? I mean we will get home faster that way, right dear?" she concluded with an air of childishness. Minato looked at her a little, let out a small laugh and replied, "You know I only use that technique when the situation is dire. I don't want you to be strained more when you're already this exhausted. Besides, I want you to rest in my arms a little." Minato blushed a little at this last statement, and Kushina laughed a little. Honestly, all those years they've known each other and he still had a problem admitting embarrassing stuff like that. The Fourth was truly one hell of a man.

Admitting defeat, Kushina told her husband, "Okay okay you win. But in exchange I want you to let me sleep with Naruto tonight. And don't pout like you did earlier or I'll walk myself home. I'm an Uzumaki after all, dattebane!" There it was, her catchphrase that had come to be one of the things that he loved so much about her. How could be say no now? He wanted to be the one to stay with Naruto tonight, seeing as he hadn't gotten the chance to hold his new baby yet, but he knew there would be many more chances like this in future, so he simply nodded, and the two made their way outside the cave and into the village. The village in which their son would grow up, and his new home.

_End_

**A/N: **There's chapter one of my new fic. I had a little trouble coming up with a title for this chapter, and the whole story in general, but after a lot of thought I managed to come up with a name which I think is fitting to this story. The chapter didn't exactly play out 100% as it did in my head, but I hope that nevertheless you guys will enjoy it. Thank you. Read and don't forget to review.


	2. Celebration

**A/N: **It's a bit earlier than expected, but here is the second chapter of "My Cute Cherry Blossom." First of all allow me to thank you all for the enormous positivity I received from Chapter one. I didn't expect all those reviews, follows and favorites, so believe me when I say that they really made my week marvelous. Truly, thank you. You guys are brilliant. Without taking any more of your time reading this section up here, let me begin the Chapter. As usual, read and enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. They are the sole property of Kishimoto-sensei.

_Celebration_

A draw of curtains and a slight groan from someone lying in the room informed Namikaze Minato that his wife, Uzumaki Kushina had woken up. He was a bit afraid of his wife's reaction at being suddenly woken up in her sleep, being the object of her wrath many times in their married life whenever he did something that irritated her. An example of such a thing would be waking her up all of a sudden when she was sleeping so soundly. However, today he had counted on the fact that she wouldn't make any sudden movements due to the fact that she was sleeping next to their newborn baby, Naruto, plus the residual pain from having the Nine Tails resealed into her and her childbirth mere moments previously would kick in at the right moment. He couldn't have been more right.

Kushina made a sudden movement for Minato's gut, who was standing a few feet away from the crib she was currently in, but stopped as suddenly as she had thrown her arm out. The soft snore of a person sleeping next to where her bosom was seconds ago brought her back to her senses and she resumed her position on the bed. Naruto was sleeping soundly next to his mother, and the last thing she wanted to have that morning were the cries of her newborn baby. She threw a fierce look at Minato.

Minato merely smirked. "What's with that look, Kushina? I thought you were going to hit me just now? I've never seen you holding back your punches for anybody." Kushina looked aside to the wall, a slight blush adorning her cheeks. "Hmph. You got lucky this time, Minato-ttebane. Naruto is sleeping next to me and I don't want the first thing he sees this early morning is his mom roughing up his dad. That will probably make him lose faith in his dad, seeing as his the Fourth Hokage." Kushina let out a sigh of victory, and Minato sweat-dropped a little. "You know Kushina; he probably doesn't even know I'm the Hokage. So better luck next time coming up with an excuse." He chuckled a little and Kushina made her hand into a fist, "I'll get you next time." The faint blush of embarrassment on her cheek grew more and it was Minato's turn to let out a victory sound. If babies were what were needed to calm Kushina down, then he would be grateful to Kami daily for Naruto.

Kushina then asked Minato, "Why did you wake me up this early though? It's only 8 in the morning." Minato then shook his head and said, "Seriously Kushina, you forgot. Today we were supposed to have a party to celebrate the Hokage and his wife getting his first kid. You were the one who suggested inviting all of your friends over for the party, so I thought you might want to tidy up this place before the party, which will start in the afternoon and go on until the evening. Or you want us to cancel it?" Kushina immediately let out a gasp and remembered.

A week ago, she had been visited by all her friends who came to congratulate her for her upcoming delivery. All her classmates from her academy days had come to see her in her house, where she was currently undergoing labor pains so she couldn't leave the house for the day. The wives of Shikaku, Inoichi, Choza had been among the first people to see her that day, then Mikoto Uchiha and Mebuki Haruno came a bit later in the day, and the last person who came was Hiashi's wife and Hizashi's wife, since that was the time they had completed all their clan duties for the day. Kushina understood it, since she knew that the Hyuuga were a clan that didn't like to be concerned with the affairs of the village, and a child being born was hardly reason for such fracas. However, since she learned with the two women in the academy, they had grown to trust each other so those coming to visit her made her day a bit better. Mikoto was a unique case; she rarely assisted her husband, Fugaku Uchiha, in dealing with clan matters, so her visit was not really something that surprised her.

Moved by her friends' compassion for her and the congratulations they brought her, Kushina came up with a small plan to pay them back. She knew that each of them had recently come from childbirth, a month before her due date to be more accurate, so their children were one month old by now. Naruto himself would have been born by now if it wasn't for the fact that his mother was a jinchuuriki, meaning her pregnancy would take 10 months. She decided to hold a party for all their children, and said that after Naruto was born, the following day they would all celebrate the bundles of joy that had come into their lives. Of course, her husband was required to announce this to the whole village, as the Hokage, much to his embarrassment and dismay. That day, all the women in the village let out screams of joy, much to their husbands' embarrassment, and Kushina became the village's favorite woman from that day onward.

Suddenly remembering what she had arranged for the day, Kushina held her hands over her face in shock. She had forgotten about the whole event completely, and such an event required quite some time to prepare for entirely, and 5 hours were nearly not enough. She had planned to buy the stuff she needed for the party a few days earlier, but the constant talks she got from Biwako about mothering and the warnings she got from the Third Hokage about the risk of the Nine Tails breaking out of the seal took up most of her time, so she ended up forgetting about it. A lump of guilt came up in her throat and she felt like she was going to disappoint her friends enormously. Sadly, she looked up at her husband and was about to tell him that it would be better to cancel the event and reschedule it for another day, but Minato held up a hand to stop her.

He had been studying her facial expressions from the moment he had broke the news to her, and immediately realized that she was ill-prepared for it. He couldn't blame her for it; Kushina sometimes had a lot going on in her life that she sometimes forgot major appointments or events, so this time wasn't any different. He had a feeling that something like this would happen, so he had a back-up plan just in case. Minato knew that Kushina was planning something as grand as a festival for the day, so he decided that they would just have a small gathering that day. He had a feeling Kushina would be slightly disappointed by that idea, but according to him it was better than having no party, so he went ahead and decided to explain it to her.

"Kushina, don't worry. I have it all covered." Kushina beamed at this, and Minato could not suppress a smile. That smiling face was something that he had grown to see daily, and it made him surer that making his wife happy was definitely worth it. He continued," It might not be as great as what you had in mind, but I think it's better than having no party at all. I will go and buy all the food we need from the store and you will stay here and tidy up the house and make it look more pleasing. And no, I'm not going to buy ramen for you." Kushina pouted at this and almost let out a sound of disapproval, but did not want to make too much noise that would wake up the baby, so she settled with a pout. Minato knew what she was pouting about, and he had no qualms about making any changes now. Kushina loved ramen to the moon and back, and she could not go a single day without visiting Teuchi's to eat some of the dish. Teuchi and his daughter Ayame had grown so accustomed to seeing her daily, so they made a habit of setting aside a dish for her daily so that they would serve her instantly she entered the shop. "The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero" was a name that was revered in the village due to her short fuse, and knowing that she would probably ruin their business if she threw a tantrum in the shop, they made a special exception for her.

"I wanted ramen-dattebane! It's been so long since I've had ramen, and if this goes on I might get a craving soon. Minato, reconsider please?" She looked at her husband in a really suggestive way, hoping that this would do the trick. Kushina was well aware of how her husband was a staunch man who refused to change his mind about something once he had made it up. She decided to result in one of the deadliest weapons which were known to work against men who had hit puberty, and especially men who had given their whole heart to a woman; the seductive glare. Kushina had heard stories from Mikoto about how she had used it to hoodwink her husband sometimes when she needed something, and knowing that Fugaku was more stern than Minato, she was 100% sure it would work. To her surprise, Minato's look did not falter, and he merely continued to look at her in the same way he had when he was explaining his idea to her.

"Kushina, you should realize that you're a mother now. You can't just eat ramen all the time like before. I think you should also try other foods, but of course junks are okay once in a while. It's for your own good, so try and understand me here please?" He explained lovingly to his wife. Kushina tried to look for a way around the suggestion, so that she could still enjoy her favorite food, but Minato did have a point. She actually let out a laugh when imagining if Naruto would grow up like her, a ramen-obsessed kid, and wondered what Minato would say at that site that would unfold in front of him. She looked at Minato, exhaled a little, and then told Minato, "I guess you do have a point. Okay then no ramen for today. And I am a bit disappointed that the party won't be as grand as I had imagined it playing out in my mind, but I guess it's better than nothing, huh? Thanks a lot Minato-ttebane! You're the best." She raised her body slowly to Minato and planted a small kiss on his mouth, before retreating back to the crib and pleased to see her husband's flushed face. Even the Hokage did have moments like this, in his own house, and Kushina had privileges to such times.

She raised her fist to the air in determination, and Minato took that as her cue to start decorating the house. He then put on his formal wear and headed out of the house, closing the door slowly to make sure that he could see if Kushina had any difficulties getting out of her bed. He watched her slowly put one leg outside the wooden structure, then another, all while making sure not to shake the crib so as not to wake up Naruto, and as soon as she was outside the structure, he closed the door, a satisfied look on his face.

Minato looked up at the sun that was creeping up from the east, and realized that he had a long day ahead of him. Slowly, he descended down the stairs that led up to his house, and steadily made his way to the shop.

_End_

**A/N: ****Sorry **if this chapter was kind of short, I originally intended to make it a bit longer but since it would be having too many elements in one chapter, I decided to leave out the rest for Chapter 3. Either way it played out well in my view and next chapter will definitely prove to be more captivating. Thank you for all your support. NaruSaku forever!


	3. Her Beautiful Hair

**A/N: **Hello all my faithful followers, reviewers and favorites, welcome to the third chapter of "My Cute Cherry Blossom." Really, I have no words to thank you guys for actually taking the time to read and review this story, plus follow it and favorite it when it's this young. Thank you so much, and I promise I will continue making this story more and more exciting to not let you down. So without further ado, here is the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. If I did, Naruto and Sakura would have been childhood sweethearts

_Her beautiful hair_

Minato reached the base of the stairs leading up to his house, and entered the street that led to the grocery store. He was planning to head to the store on foot, but with a quickened pace to his steps. Of course the thought of using the Flying Thunder God technique came to him, having marked all the important places in Konoha so that he would be able to be at the beck and call of his villagers, but he pushed the thought to the back of his head. He had once tried using the technique when he had gone to the library to fetch Kushina as she had stayed late studying on Uzumaki fuinjutsu in their time as jounin, and remembering that he almost gave the old woman who was working as a librarian there such a shock that she fainted. Kushina had to give the startled woman emergency first aid, and Minato spent almost an hour there apologizing for his sudden appearance. Receiving a punch from Kushina and having her call him off for the whole journey on their way home, Minato made a mental note never to use the technique again in running errands within the village. Of course, protecting the village from its enemies was a different matter altogether.

However, there was a slight disturbance in being the Hokage of a lively village such as Konoha. More so if your wife had given birth a few days earlier, and by now the village was buzzing with the news of Minato and Kushina's newborn baby. The details of her childbirth had of course, been kept secret in the time she was pregnant, but surely anyone who looked at her unusually enlarged stomach could tell that she had been pregnant. Of course, there was always the chance that she had eaten too much ramen and grown too obese, but Kushina herself wasn't an Akimichi, so it was out of the question. Even if she ate a lot of ramen, she was a full-fledged kunoichi, so she made sure to attend all her training sessions daily. Minato was slightly elated at this, since she managed to retain her stunning figure, despite all the years they had been together. Even if no one knew the exact date when Kushina was set to give birth, Minato was sure that by now The Third had reported it to the entire village after Biwako had delivered the report on the success of the birth to his office the previous night. Of course, this was indeed happy news, but now Minato had to deal with greetings from his villagers and also congratulations from every corner.

"Minato-chan, congratulations on your new baby," said the old woman who lived in the house that was just a block away from Minato's house. "Thank you, Kushieda-san," Minato replied while bowing to her politely. She smiled at him honestly then went back to sweeping the area outside her house. Hokage or not, Minato was still polite to everyone around him, a fact that all the villagers held in high regard. Sure they didn't really mind the Third himself, but the old man was a bit too staunch and uptight, and he rarely took walks inside the village to see its inhabitants, spending most of his time inside the tower. It was a good thing once in a while to have a leader who went to check on the condition of his people, and unfortunately, Sarutobi didn't take that particular trait from one of his masters, The First Hokage. "Oi, Hokage-sama! We heard the news! Really, congratulations!" This came from the opposite end of the street, this time from Ryuu. Ryuu was the owner of the stall where Kushina got fresh fruits from every day on her way back home. Kushina was quite fond of the man, so Minato found it no surprise that he was among one of the ones to congratulate him. Bowing to him, he also thanked him and proceeded onwards to the store.

As he walked on, he remembered that Kushina had invited her classmates who were all married and had their own kids a few days, so he was a bit happy that she had not decided to invite some of the civilians over. If she did, he was not sure his humble house would be able to hold all the guests. Making a mental note to thank Kushina for this when he returned home, he muttered to him, "This is going to be a long day," while responding to his fifth congratulatory message for the day.

_Haruno Household_

"Hurry up, Kizashi! We're not gonna be able to beat the others at this rate!" An exasperated Mebuki shouted to her husband, who was currently running around the house in frenzy, being half dressed in a white shirt, a black coat and a black pair of trousers, but his legs were currently bare. His shirt was unbuttoned and he was looking as if he had just woken up from a very long sleep. "I know Mebuki just give me as minute I'm looking for my- found it!" Kizashi exclaimed in joy as he held up a matching tie to the color of his suit. The two people in question were currently trying to prepare themselves in a hurry with their destination being none other than Kushina's place. "But Mebuki dear, is there really any meaning in us heading there this early? I mean the party won't start until later on in the evening, so going there right now doesn't really make a difference, ya know?"

Immediately, the woman named Mebuki glared daggers at her husband, and he immediately gulped down and took a few steps back in fear. He knew just how violent his wife could get if she was contradicted on something, but luckily enough she wasn't as violent as "The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero" of the Leaf. Still, her punches could leave a mark, and he certainly didn't want to be a disgrace as he led his wife to the party they were attending by having a bruise on his face. She seemed to notice this herself, so she exhaled a little before crossing her arms over her chest and readying herself to explain to her husband just how important this was to her. "Kizashi honey (he felt his heart jump in his body a little at this name, truly it was wonderful being married to such an amazing woman), you know that me and Kushina-chan have been friends since childhood right? Well the thing is that to celebrate Naruto's birthday, she invited all her friends who were at the Academy with her, and we were the only exception, since we aren't shinobi, so we didn't attend the Ninja Academy at all. I wanted us to reach their so we couldn't give the other shinobi guests a reason to underestimate us too. And besides, Kushina-chan might be cleaning up right now, so I might be able to help her out a little, just a little enough not to get myself too dirty. Shannaro!" She finished with her familiar catch phrase. Kizashi sighed uneasily, he wasn't really a fan of Mebuki's catch phrase, and he hoped to God that their daughter would not adopt that particular trait from her mother.

Speaking of which, he just remembered something that had not been on his mind all this time due to the fuss of preparing for the party. "By the way, who's gonna carry Sakura there? I don't mind if you tell me to carry her though, I understand your desire to reach there earlier so I'll be okay with holding her and taking my time walking till there." Mebuki smiled genuinely at her husband, then walked slowly till where he was, tiptoed to clear the distance between him and her, then planted a kiss on his lips. It lasted 10 seconds. "You know I'm really glad I married someone like you," she told him once she had parted from him. He immediately brought his hand up to the back of his head and started rubbing it due to embarrassment, but inwards he felt like he was on Cloud Nine. "Hehe, well what would you do without me?" He playfully teased his wife, earning him a playful punch to his shoulder. "A whole damn lot you know! But this time I need you to help me carry Sakura there since my hands will be full and I won't be able to take care of her. And she needs time to bond with her daddy too you know." Happy that his wife agreed to his request, since most times she wanted to take care of Sakura herself leaving him to pout on the sofa while his wife played with their newborn daughter; he quickly rushed to their baby's bedroom.

Haruno Sakura was the newborn daughter of Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno. She had been born a week prior to the birth week of Naruto, making her a week older than Naruto. Currently, she was sleeping soundly in her crib, and Kizashi made sure to observe silence once he entered her room. Slowly tiptoeing till where his daughter was snoring softly, he reached her sleeping form and took a while to admire his beautiful baby girl. She looked strikingly similar to her mom, but her eyes, nose and forehead belonged to her dad. On her head lay a patch of pink hair, which was a bit odd considering none of her parents had pink hair. The doctor at the hospital who assisted Mebuki in giving birth told the two that it was probably a result of the mixture of the hair colors of her mom and dad, a fact which rarely happened since most children tended to take up the hair colour of one of their parents. Taking this as a unique feature that their daughter would boast upon when she grew older, he imagined boys flocking to her due to her beautiful pink hair. Then he imagined his door step being full of boys coming daily to profess their love to his daughter and offering to take her out, he put his arms slowly around his daughter's sleeping form, and slowly carried her out of the crib. "Let's go, Sakura," he slowly whispered to her, and closing the door of her room gently behind him, he found his wife waiting for him on the corridor, a look of impatience on her face.

"You're 5 minutes late you know," she reprimanded him. "Hehe, sorry, I couldn't help but admire our cute cherry blossom." She shook her head from side to side, but this did not mask the smile that was currently present on her face. "What will I do with you?" She asked herself, and the trio of mother, father and daughter left the house, making sure not to make any noise that would awaken their sleeping beauty.

_Namikaze Household_

Kushina was currently dusting the windows of her house, while humming to herself and making sure not to miss even the slightest speck of dust. Most of the house had been tidied by now, the furniture had been set in place, and she had even brought out the extra chairs and tables that they normally set aside on big occasions like this. Ever since Minato had become the Hokage, they had been used to visits from his peers, all of them coming to congratulate him on his achievement. Becoming a Kage at that young age was something that was unheard off, since most skilled shinobi usually took the title at the age of 30 onwards. But Minato was in his early 20s, making him the youngest Kage ever in history. The overzealous nature of his peers due to this feat was not exactly unheard off though. Kushina was dusting the last window when she heard a noise from something that was behind her in the same room.

Naruto was currently sitted in a baby chair and he had just released a burp. Kushina had thought of keeping him in his room till she had finished preparing the house, but she had heard of cot deaths from some of the books about nursing she had read in the library. Honestly, the very concept had shocked her. The thought of her baby dying alone in his room with his mother away in another area of the house had shocked her completely, so she did not want to take the risk. However, being in the same area as the one his mom was cleaning also posed a risk, since there was a chance that he would inhale some of the dust that was being released from her cleaning. To ensure that her baby did not succumb to a disease that early, she made sure to dust with the slightest effort possible. This would mean that she would have finished the work a bit later than she expected, but as long as Naruto was safe it was all worth it. Normally, she would clean the house with such enthusiasm that it was covered in residual dust by the end of the cleaning process. Minato had once come upon the house when it was in such a state, and it gave him such a bad flu that he had to be nursed for a couple of days. This made Kushina a bit guilty so she decided to always make sure she finished her cleaning early enough, at least before he returned home after his duties of the day.

Walking to her baby, she checked to see if he was comfortable and set well in his seat. Lifting him slightly, she placed him on her shoulder and slightly tapped his back to expel the gas that was left in him. She had just fed him a few hours ago, so she wanted to make sure that he didn't choke on a gas bubble, and after a few taps and a soft song that would enable him to drift slowly back into sleep, she was about to place him back in his seat and finish up on the few touches left when she heard a knock on the door. "Ah, he must have returned," she told herself, and walked to the door while carrying her baby in her arms. Minato had taken quite some time in shopping, so he should have finished up by now. Or so Kushina thought.

Slowly opening the door, she was greeted by a joyous shout of "Kushina-chan!". Tears welling up in her eyes, she knew who that voice belonged to. It was one of her bestest friends in the world. One of the Uchiha clan's kunoichi and the current wife of the clan head, Mikoto Uchiha. She quickly placed one arm around her best friend and hugged her tightly with all the strength she could muster. Mikoto did the same, and Kushina was a bit puzzled as to why she had used one arm instead of two. Thinking at first that it was because she was afraid that she would crush Naruto who was in Kushina's right arm, she released her friend from the hug then noticed what lay under her right arm too. She smiled a little, and slowly tapped the baby's cheeks. "And hello to you, Sasuke-kun," she said to the infant who was sleeping soundly on Mikoto's arm.

"Ah, is that Naruto-kun? He's so cute!" Mikoto exclaimed and her face had beamed in joy. "Yeah, it's him. He is cute isn't he? Well what do you expect if he's inherited my very handsome husband's fine looks?" Kushina teased her friend, and the two women chuckled a little. "Yeah, I guess he will be quite a sight when he grows up. The spitting image of the Fourth Hokage, I think many girls will be raiding him with love letters at school," said Mikoto. "Hehe yeah, but if he brings any bad girls home I'll be sure to pummel both him and her dattebane! I also think Sasuke-kun will be a sight to behold, hehe since your clan's men are quite handsome If I say so myself," Kushina replied to her childhood friend. Mikoto smiled and said, "Yeah, let's hope our sons become two of the hottest shinobi in the village so we'll have something to brag about. Mind if I hold Naruto a little?" asked Mikoto. "No no, by all means do! I want him to learn how great of an aunt he has," said Kushina, and Mikoto felt tears welling up in her eyes. The two kunoichi had been so close of friends that they were practically like sisters. In Mikoto, Kushina found the sister she had always wanted but never had, since her homeland in Uzushiogakure had been laid to waste and all her clansmen had been scattered throughout the whole 5 nations. Mikoto stepped into the Namikaze household while handing over Sasuke to Kushina, while Kushina handed over Naruto to Mikoto.

After five minutes of the two mothers doting over each other's babies, there was another knock on the door. Kushina went to open the door, half-expecting, half-hoping that it was Minato this time. He really had to come back soon, since she had to start preparing the food or else she would be stuck in the kitchen by the time the other guests had arrived. She opened the door slowly, Sasuke still under her arm, and her prayers were answered, unexpectedly but with another bonus. At the door stood Minato, holding the groceries that he had gone to obtain (which were quite a lot, looking at the beads of perspiration that were on his face). Behind him were Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno, looking as dashing as she had always remembered seeing them dressed. "Yo, Kushina. I brought you a little present along with the groceries, I hope you like it," said an exhausted Minato. Kushina looked at him tearfully, then relieved him of the luggage he was carrying currently, before hugging him softly and whispering into his ear, "You're the best." Minato let out a slight laugh, and Kushina immediately moved to greet her newest guests, making sure to hug Mebuki for a longer time. "Thanks for coming, Mebuki," she honestly thanked her friend. Mebuki smiled at her then said, "I wouldn't miss this for the world." After releasing her friend from her hug, she immediately saw what lay under Kizashi's arms. "Ohh, is that Sakura-chan? She's so pretty!" Kushina exclaimed, and immediately she moved to get a closer look at the baby girl of her friend. She was certainly gorgeous, and she would definitely grow up to be a stunning beauty. "Hehe, I hope Naruto falls for a girl like her, Kushina said, and immediately closed her mouth in embarrassment. Looking up at her friend to see if she had heard what she had just said, her cheeks got more flushed when she noticed the smile that adorned Mebuki's face. "Hey why not? I think Naruto and Sakura would make a pretty kick ass couple to me. Don't you, Kizashi dear?" She turned to her husband, who simply replied, "Yeah, they will honey."

"You know if the three of you wanted to catch up you should have asked for a get together, not now especially when we have a party to prepare for," said Mikoto, who had come to the door and was looking at the scene in front of her with an amused look. "Sorry Mikoto-chan, hehe we got kinda carried away," Kushina told her friend, and while still holding Sasuke, she made her way back into the house. Minato followed suit after her, holding the grocery shopping under his arms and slowly followed his wife to the kitchen. Mikoto stayed at the door preparing to close it behind Mebuki and Kizashi as they entered with their Sakura. Then, something really odd happened. Naruto, who was currently lying in her arms, looked at the pink haired girl who lay in Kizashi's arms, and his arms slowly rose up. The three parents noticed this with an odd curiosity, and as if knowing what he wanted to do, Kizashi brought Sakura closer to Naruto. His arm moved at a snail's speed, (he was a newborn after all), and slowly came to rest on the head of Sakura. He touched her hair softly, and the three parents were pleasantly surprised, evident on the smiles on their face.

"Well, what do you know? I guess he already likes Sakura-chan," said Kizashi, and the two mothers Mebuki and Mikoto started laughing heartily.

_END_

**A/N: ** To be continued.


	4. Her Soft Hand

**A/N: **Well hello again guys and welcome to the fourth installment of "My Cute Cherry Blossom." Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows and favorites…truly. In this Chapter I'll include a small, sweet NaruSaku moment too, so be ready for that too, plus a really amazing party with all our favorite parents. So, here goes!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

_Her Soft Hand_

Slowly, Naruto's hand rose and touched the blob of pink that lay on Sakura's head. His small hand ruffled her hair, and the bemused parents watched the event unfold with an odd curiosity. It was not really a new thing for babies to touch each other when they were so young and still couldn't walk or talk, but there was something about the way Naruto moved to touch her hair that stroked them as amazing. It's like he had heard every word that the parents were speaking and so he wanted to see for himself, to feel for himself what was just so special about Sakura-chan that his mom had said that she wished that he fell for a girl like her. As his hand ruffled through her soft hair, slowly, the eyelids of Sakura slowly opened to reveal a beautiful pair of emerald eyes. Naruto's mouth slowly moved to form what was vaguely a smile, although Kushina could not tell since her young child was still toothless, so it was a bit awkward smiling without any teeth. It was akin to what an old man's smile would look like, a man who had lived for a long time and who had seen what the entire world had to offer. Kushina imagined that this is what one of the village elders' smiles would probably look like, and that it in itself, was a beautiful sight to behold.

"Oh my, looks like the little angel woke up, "said Mebuki, and Kizashi let out a small laugh. Then, he took the chance to poke his daughter's cheeks softly, to which she started giggling, and Kushina smiled. While it wasn't really clear why she had started giggling, either due to Naruto touching her hair, or her dad poking his daughters cheeks playfully, she looked really happy, and that was something that would make every mother's heart flutter with joy. She realized that Sakura would probably grow up into a girl who was beloved by everyone, much like how the petals of a Sakura tree were everyone's joy, so she made a small wish in her heart. A small wish that was more like a prayer more than anything else, but she still hoped that it would come true. She wished that Naruto would grow closer and closer to Sakura, and if fate was graceful enough to her, the two would get together one day. She wasn't really sure why, but she felt that if the two were together, Naruto would always protect her and that Sakura would always ensure that her son didn't overdo herself and that he was always safe. A small tear went down her cheek, which went unnoticed by anyone, and luckily enough Minato called her out to that moment, giving her an excuse for no one to see her shining face. She had made the same wish when she was expectant with Naruto and had come across Mikoto carrying Sasuke from the hospital, hoping that Naruto and Sasuke would become the closest of friends, and now here she was making the same wish again with Sakura. She just had a gut feeling that Sakura would become Naruto's better half.

"Hey Kushina, I think you'd better start preparing the dishes now. Time really isn't on our side, and the others will be here anytime now," Minato called out from the kitchen. He had just finished unpacking all the groceries, and had come to call back Kushina since he noticed that they had less than an hour before the other guests arrived. Kushina quickly rubbed off the tear that was on her cheek, and swiftly, but gently, took Naruto's hand away from Sakura, preparing to head into the kitchen. Sakura's giggles died down a little, which did not go unnoticed by Kizashi, so he decided to pry her away from her mom for the moment so that he would cheer her up a bit more. Mebuki was a bit startled at this, so she decided to protest, before her husband cut her off, saying, "Why don't you go help Kushina-chan in the kitchen? It will help her prepare the food quicker, plus with more hands on deck I'm sure the food will be tastier. Right?" Mebuki pondered on what her husband had said, and after seeing that he had a point, she nodded and said, "Yeah, I probably guess you're right about that. Wait, where Mikoto is?" she asked no one in particular, herself having noticed that the raven-haired woman had not appeared for quite a while. She then remembered that the last time she had seen Mikoto was when she had appeared at the door during her arrival, so she could only be in one place at the moment. The kitchen with Kushina. She was such a good friend that Mebuki couldn't help but admire her sometimes. Hearing the voices of two women in the kitchen confirmed that the two had already started preparing the meal, so she made haste to join them, not wanting herself to be left out of the fray after all. She still had her pride as a woman and a wife, after all.

Minato let her pass through as he was leaving the kitchen himself to go and relax after a long day of hard work. Even if he was the Hokage, he still tended to get tired from normal duties like this, a fact which befuddled Kushina and gave her something to tease him about daily. She was happy that he was in fact helping around the house, and he wasn't one of those husbands that became so absorbed in their shinobi duties that they dumped all the rest of the work to their wives. Fugaku, Mikoto's husband was an example of this, since he was so absorbed in his duties as a clan head that he barely had any time to spend with his wife and their oldest kid, Uchiha Itachi. Mikoto didn't really seem to mind this, since she understood her husband's position as the clan head of Konoha's strongest clan, but the tone of her voice sometimes made it seem like she wished her husband would become more of a family man sometimes. She hoped that with the recent delivery of their second child, that maybe, just maybe, her husband would begin to pay more heed to their kids and possibly relieve some of her workload in the house. Even if he didn't, she would still love him. Yeah, she figured loving your husband was probably something like this, and she realized that she wouldn't trade her husband for anything in the world. Kushina herself really didn't see the logic in the matter with Fugaku, since her husband was the Hokage and he still had time to help around the house when Kushina's hands were too full. She realized that she was probably gifted one of the sweetest, most caring husbands in the world, and as with any woman, she never failed to brag to her friends about it. Of course, the incident would leave her friends a bit green with envy, but still even they had their own husbands to brag about, especially the case with Nara Yoshino. Her husband was an extremely oddball, since despite how lazy he always seemed, whenever his wife requested something of him in the house, he would always comply. The reason wasn't really anything special, it was just that she tended to get real scary when she was angry, and of course seeing the house untidy did not sit well with her in her book.

Once Minato had settled on the couch where Kushina had placed Naruto in to sleep while she worked in the kitchen, slowly, he took his son into his arms and prepared to lull him to sleep, while looking forward to the party. Truth is, he was feeling ravenously hungry since he had not had any meal that day, so he could feel his stomach growling in hunger. However, the upside of the matter was that he would get a chance to eat his wife's very delicious cooking, a fact which helped him persevere through the pangs of hunger. As an added benefit, she was being helped by two of her best friends to prepare the meals for the party, which was looming closer and closer by the second, so the food that the three prepared would definitely be extraordinary. The aroma which wafted from the kitchen seemingly made him hungrier, and he actually heard his stomach growl in hunger this time. He felt a bit embarrassed owing to the fact that his cheeks had turned a faint blush of red, and he hoped that Naruto, who was resting on his torso, had not heard the growl and had been woken up as a result of it. He was still snoring silently, meaning Minato had gotten lucky. As he heaved a sigh of relief, he heard Kizashi laughing heartily from the opposite couch where he was seated with Sakura in his lap, and knew that the man had heard him in his moment of embarrassment.

"Easy there, man. I know you're hungry and can't wait for the meal, but no need to make a public display of it!" he told Minato. Minato was not sure if this was supposed to be a gag or a jab at him, and honestly he was not surprised if it was a gag. He knew how painfully tasteless Kizashi's jokes were, such that at this point he did not feel that even if he did not laugh, the man would not take offense. After all, his wife repeatedly told him how bad his gags were, so he was not surprised that if he had gotten used to it by now. Still, the two men had an odd friendship between them. They had only met due to the sheer coincidence that their wives were really bosom buddies, and since then the two seemed to bump into each other more times than necessary since they always managed to be dragged along with their wives on Friday nights, when the women insisted that their husbands take them out to dinner. So it was no fact that they seemed to get along really well. "You know I've not really had anything to eat all day, and I'm really exhausted after running to the grocery store to get Kushina's groceries, so I think I'm allowed to be a bit expressive about my hunger," Minato retaliated," Besides, if I were you, I wouldn't laugh so loudly, you'll wake the kids up, Kizashi-san," he added. Kizashi immediately covered his mouth with his hands, and looked at the two sleeping dolls to ensure that they had not experienced the brunt of his laughter. They stirred a little, but resumed their sleep almost immediately afterwards, causing Kizashi to exhale softly. "Sorry about that," he mumbled silently to Minato.

"So anyway, did something interesting happen while I was in the kitchen? You guys seemed to be huddled up at the door for an awfully long amount of time, or at least that's what Mikoto said when she went to look at what you guys were doing. She said that the living room had fallen unnaturally silent, so she wondered what had happened that had kept you guys all occupied," Minato continued, shaking away Kizashi's apology. It wasn't such a big deal that he had laughed, since he had an unnaturally loud laugh, and it was like apologizing for being who you are or a certain trait you possessed. It was like Kushina apologizing for her unnatural red hair, which was a trait that all Uzumakis were born with. "Oh, Naruto touched Sakura's hair, and Kushina and Mebuki thought it was really cute, so they just stood there at the door gawking at them, and since I was holding Sakura I couldn't really move away and ruin their happiness. Still, it was amazing that Naruto did that, since just a few moments earlier we were talking about how we wanted our little babies to be when they grew up, and Kushina blurted out that she wanted Naruto and Sakura to be sweethearts once they grew up, then after that Naruto touched her hair. It's like the kid just heard us talking about the girl, and he wanted to see for himself just how pretty she was!" Kizashi explained, ending the sentence with a pitch higher than he had started his explanation with. The truth was, he had also found that moment to be quite touching, but he wasn't quite as excited as the two mothers present were, so he really couldn't express himself fully. Minato found that quite understandable, since he could not imagine Kizashi leaping around in joy at the fact that his daughter had found her soulmate so early. He however, found himself smiling at what Kizashi had told him, his thoughts rewinding to a similar incident that had happened to him and Kushina. Of course, he and Kushina had not been that young, it would have appalled him even more if that had happened to him and her when they were infants. The first time he had laid eyes on her in the Academy, he had been amazed at her red hair, simply because of the radiance it held on her head. He had wondered what it would be like to see it up close and feel it in his fingers, and he did get the chance, since Kushina had been kidnapped by Kumogakure ninja and he used her strands of hair to track her and rescue her. Even if it took him quite some time to satisfy his curiosity about her hair, which he found beautiful, he was amazed that Naruto had acted the same way around Sakura's hair. A feeling of pride welled up in him, and he shot his son a really warm look, even if the young boy was asleep at the moment.

In the kitchen, the three wives were completely endorsed in their cooking. Mikoto handled the meat, which was her best dish, owing to the fact that her husband's favorite dish was meat. She chuckled a little as she sliced the meat and stuffed it into one of the pots that were cooking the dishes, remarking to herself that Fugaku was a bit like an Akimichi in regard to the way he loved meat. However, he never let himself become as big as the men from that clan, owing to the fact that he honed his skills day in day out, allowing him to retain his slightly bulky figure. Kushina handled the vegetables, this being her best field, owing to the fact that Minato liked eating healthy, so his diet mostly consisted of veggies, which explained the fact why he retained such a well-rounded figure. Mebuki handled the fruits, preparing fruit salads that everyone would have for dessert after the main course. She would have offered to assist her two friends, but she knew they would not be too accommodating to this idea, so she decided to settle with preparing dessert. Besides, she was the one who would get the final laugh at the end of the day, since her meal was going to be taken last. Therefore, it was up to her to make it a grand finale. However, she currently felt that the mood in the kitchen was a bit too stifling, so she decided to lighten up the mood a little.

"Say, Mikoto, how come you came alone today? I thought you would come with Fugaku, since it's an important day for Kushina-chan here…," Mebuki inquired. She was wondering about it since she had arrived at Kushina's house, since she arrived with her husband and was dead sure that she would have found Minato there, so it was odd that their comrade did not have her spouse with her. Sometimes, Mikoto gave the impression that she was a single mother due to the way she walked almost everywhere alone with her eldest kid, Itachi, but the smile on her face was not the smile that was on the face of any single mother. They had a certain gloom to the way they carried themselves, and Mikoto carried herself like any happily, married woman would. However, Mebuki was worried that Mikoto and her husband were not on good terms so he didn't want to come tonight. "Oh, there's a clan meeting today for the Uchiha , so Fugaku-san couldn't make it since he was the one who had to conduct the meeting. He is the clan head after all. He really wanted to come though, but there was a problem with one of the clan member's families, since they are having a dispute with another family. He called the meeting since he didn't want the feud to become a bigger matter than it already is, wanting to settle it peacefully and as quickly as possible. He sends his deepest apologies and told me that I could go and enjoy myself, seeing as it didn't really need both of us present to adjourn over the matter. Oh, and he sends his congratulations to you and Minato-san over the birth of Naruto," Mikoto concluded, turning to face Kushina, who was currently watching her vegetables cook over. Kushina was a bit startled at this; she didn't think that Fugaku of all people would send her congratulations since he always maintained a stern presence, even in front of others. However, she was grateful for this, since she nodded and said," Thanks, Mikoto." Mikoto smiled genuinely at her childhood best friend, and then replied, "I'll be sure to convey that to him when I get home." The two kunoichi then laughed heartily, and Mebuki smiled warmly, telling herself that she had worried herself silly over nothing.

Just at that moment, there was another knock on the door, and the three women looked at the clock that lay in the kitchen. It now read 6 p.m, and they were mildly surprised at how fast time had flown when they had started preparing the dishes. However, Kushina and Mikoto had turned off their cookers, and Mebuki had just finished preparing the final fruit salad, carefully placing it on the table so that the whole table was now colorful. It was full of dishes containing all different kinds of fruit salad, and Mebuki was actually impressed at her handiwork. Mikoto and Kushina joined her in wowing at the site that she had prepared for everyone on the table. In return, she went and took a peek inside each of their cooking pots, and the aroma that emanated from them made her feel like she was on Cloud Nine. Truthfully, the three women had outdone themselves with the meals they had each prepared, and they all leaped and gave each other high-fives and hugs. They had managed to make it in time, and Minato spoke from the living room, "I'll go get it!" He moved to the door to look who it was, but he already had an idea of who it was. Mebuki, Mikoto and Kushina took this chance to take off their aprons and properly groom them before appearing in the living room again.

The first thing they heard when they re-entered the living room were exclamations of joy, and the three women recognized the voices immediately and who they belonged to. Minato accompanied the new trio which had appeared into the living room, and there appeared Nara Yoshino, carrying in her arms a small baby, who bore a striking resemblance to his father due to the darkness of his hair, Akimichi Yuri, holding in her arms a slightly plump baby, who had a patch of brown hair on his head and finally Yamanaka Nori, holding in her arms a really cute baby girl. The three mothers placed their babies on the couch where Minato was seated previously, and where he had placed Naruto to rest as he went to open the door. Once they ensured that the baies were comfortably placed and in a position where they could not accidentally topple over and fall, they turned to each other and immediately began greeting each other with such vigor that Minato and Kizashi thought that they had not seen each other for more than a year. It wasn't really an odd thing that the three women had arrived together, since their fathers were famously referred to as the Ino-Shika-Cho combo, it followed that their wives spent a lot of time together. In fact, when Kushina was going to remind them about the party she was holding, she found them walking together in the streets of Konoha conversing about how they had just delivered beautiful, bouncing babies, so she realized that she had to get used to the idea of the three always being around each other. "Nara Shikamaru," Yoshino replied, while pointing at her kid, who looked as if he was halfway between falling asleep and staying awake. "Akimichi Chouji," Yuri replied, pointing to her baby, who seemed to be drooling. Kushina sweat dropped and immediately registered that he must have gotten a whiff of the scent of the food that was coming from the kitchen. He was certainly an Akimichi. "Yamanaka Ino," Nori replied, while pointing to her little girl, who was the only one that had soundly fallen asleep among the trio. Kushina, Mebuki, Mikoto, Kizashi and Minato acknowledged the presence of the three new angels that had appeared before them by simultaneously replying," Pleased to meet you." Kushina then introduced her son to the three women, who couldn't help but notice how strikingly similar he was to his dad. Nori even commented on how he was just as handsome as his dad, causing Minato to get flustered a little, a fact which elicited laughs from all the women present in the room.

"By the way, have you guys gotten any word from the Inuzuka, Hyuuga and Aburame clans if they will be able to show up tonight?" Kushina asked, while everyone in the room was currently endorsed in conversation. They were the only remaining three people who had not yet arrived, and Kushina knew that the three women who she had befriended from each of those clans had recently gotten kids. She had expected them to appear sooner, but an hour had already passed and there were still no signs of them appearing. Everyone in the group had simultaneously agreed not to eat until everyone who had been invited had showed up. Yoshino spoke up saying," Shikaku-san told me that the Inuzuka clan members had been given border-guard duty tonight, so Tsume had to leave to go on the duty. She left young Kiba in the care of Hana, and I don't think Hana-chan would be comfortable coming to an event like this since it would be kind of awkward considering the age difference. The Hyuuga and Aburame clans were holding meetings tonight, and you know how strict Shibi-san and Hiashi-san are pertaining such meetings. I don't think they'll allow their wives to come to such an event, so that's just about it." Yoshino finished explaining to everyone, who listened and took in every word she said keenly. Kushina was saddened by the news, since she expected each one of her classmates from the academy to appear, but then Yuri replied," Come on, Kushina-san, don't be saddened. Let's just enjoy ourselves and then we'll fill them in about everything when we meet up with them again. Besides my little man looks famished already, a few more minutes and he'll fall unconscious in that seat!" Kushina chuckled a little at this, and then looked up and said, "Yeah, you're right about that." Immediately she got up from the table then went into the kitchen to get the dishes. Mikoto and Mebuki followed her to assist her with the process, and at that point there was another knock on the door. Yoshino, Noru and Yuri smirked at this, and this time it was Kizashi who went to open the door. In entered Shikaku, Choza and Inoichi, each of them carrying a crate full of sake and talking among themselves how they were going to let loose that night, since it was one of the few times they actually got to have some time to themselves after all the missions they did.

Minato was pleasantly surprised, since he was not sure if he would be able to stay comfortably in the same room that was filled with plenty of women. Of course, Kushina was there but she would be catching up with her female friends, so the arrival of these three men made him feel like he would have some male bonding with them, without making his wife constantly worry if he was okay. Kizashi was there too, but talking to him would prove to be too monotonous after a while. He helped the three men bring in the drinks to his living room, and their wives threw them appreciative glances, getting up to greet their husbands. Kushina emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later, and even though she was pleasantly surprised at the new guests, she was not happy at the fact that they had brought sake. She was worried that it would affect the kids, especially Naruto, since one of the fathers could easily be tempted to make the kids drink a little sake when they were tipsy. However, Minato reassured her that everything would be fine, since he himself had drunk with Jiraiya-sensei on several occasions when they came back from a mission. However, he was able to hold his own when it came to drinking, while his master got wasted after having the same number of drinks as Minato did. Kushina took comfort in this, so she carefully served everyone their meals, with the assistance of Mebuki and Kizashi. Before long, the atmosphere had become better, since the men drank and talked about all the missions they had been on, while the women talked about their house troubles and how they coped with their new motherly roles. However, they made sure not to make too much noise since they didn't want the kids to get cranky.

In the midst of all this, the kids were huddled together in one couch, and Kizashi made sure to place Sakura near Naruto, since he felt that she would be safer there. While the adults were endorsed in their celebrations, Naruto slowly opened his eyes and saw Sakura lying next to him. Her hand was just lying next to him, and he moved his small hand and placed it on top of hers. She fluttered her eyes open a little, and after feeling the warmth of Naruto's hand on hers, she closed them again, this time a small smile appearing on her mouth. These two were definitely connected in a special way, a fact which their parents would come to understand in future.

**A/N: **To be continued.


	5. Under the Sakura Tree

Chapter 5

_7 years later_

"Mom, do I really have to join the Ninja Academy?" Naruto asked his mother for the third time that morning, while the red-haired woman was fitting him into his new clothes. Naruto was clad in a white jacket with green trimmings and a hood, and Kushina was busy making sure that the clothes weren't too big or too small or too big for him.

"Yes, honey, and you know why, we've talked about this before," Kushina replied, after making sure that the attire fit him perfectly, she smiled at her son. "Yes, it looks really good on you Naruto, don't you think so?" She faced her son towards the mirror that lay on the wall of his room, so that he could get a good look of himself.

After staring at his image for a while, Naruto turned to his mother then said, "I wanted an orange jacket mom, and I don't think that white looks all that great on me. It fits dad better."

Kushina chuckled a little before thinking to herself, "You got my favorite colour too, Naruto. Minato will be a bit amused to hear about this." She turned to her son and said to him, "Now Naruto, you know that orange won't look that good on you with those pants. I decided to choose white since this was what your father wore in his days at the academy, and I thought it would make you feel better that you were becoming a ninja starting today."

"But why mom? I mean there's no reason for me to become a ninja when dad is the Fourth Hokage! I mean dad can just train me at home and when I've become of age like the other kids joining the academy then he will recommend me as a ninja too!" The blonde boy protested to his mom again. Ever since that time two nights ago when his dad had come to him with an application form and told him that he would join the ninja academy, Naruto had remained restless, protesting to his mom each chance that he got.

He was as stubborn as his mom; Kushina had to give him that. However, she did not fail to see where he was coming from, since she was sure that if she herself were the child of the village head, she would probably act the same way as Naruto was doing right now. So she decided to explain to her child just what it meant to be a ninja.

Kneeling so that she was looking at her son face-to-face, she stared into his cerulean blue eyes. A bit happy that she had inherited her husband's handsome facial features, she put her compliments aside in order to address the issue currently at hand.

"Now, Naruto, you're right that your dad is The Fourth Hokage. And that does make you a bit more special than the other kids in the village, for sure. But Minato is a fair man, and he doesn't want to give his child any special privileges that will cause the other parents to feel as if he isn't being a fair leader, so that's why you have to join the Ninja Academy. And even if you say that you want dad to be training you here at home, it can't be possible since he's caught up with his duties most of the time in the office, so the only times that he can spend time with you is when he gets home from work, or times when he finishes his duties early in the office," Kushina calmly explained to her son. Of course, under normal circumstances, she could have lost her cool and probably clobbered her son on the head, but she knew that this was an important step in her son's future, so she had to be with him all throughout the way.

Naruto stared back into his mother's violet eyes, before turning his eyes away from her in embarrassment. He was starting to see his mother's point of view, but still, he pouted and asked his mom, "What if they all see me as some stuck-up kid because dad's the Hokage, and they won't talk to me or some of them bully me? What should I do then?"

Kushina realized that her son was facing the same insecurities that she had as a kid, when she realized that she was going to join a new school in a new village and interact with kids that she had never seen before. Sadly, she remembered how she was bullied in the Academy because of her unnatural hair colour, and even if she had been able to fend off the boys who made fun of her hair colour, she was not sure if her son would be able to cope with it in the same way. However, she wished that her son would be happy even if he was going to possibly experience some hardships due to his heritage, so she decided to cheer him up in the best way she knew possible.

Pumping her fist in the air in order to encourage herself and her son, she placed her hands on Naruto's shoulders and beamed at him before telling him, "Are you kidding me, Naruto? There's no way you won't be able to make friends! When people find out you're Hokage-sama's son, they'll want to make friends with you instead! And besides, why do you think I bought you this jacket? Trust me, when the girls there see how beautiful you are they'll be all head over heels for you!" She finished with a higher tone in her voice.

Naruto felt his cheeks turn red with embarrassment at his mom's last sentence, and his hand moved up to rub the back of his head sheepishly, before he inquired, in a lower tone than he had used earlier. "You… you really think so mom?" He looked at his mom, hoping that she had not just sugar-coated her words so that she could make her son feel better.

"I'm 100% positive Naruto dear. Tell you what, if you don't manage to make a new friend by the end of today or meet a new girl, I'll personally ask your dad to remove you from the academy and I'll train you myself here at home," Kushina remarked to her son. Of course, she was still a kunoichi, and while she had indeed become occupied with taking care of Naruto, she still remembered all her clan's techniques and was willing to teach them to Naruto if worst came to worst.

Naruto beamed at his mom and exclaimed to her in joy, "Really mom?! Yay, thanks you're the best!" He enveloped his mom in a hug that nearly knocked her flat, while she just laughed heartily at her son's antics. Although she was finally happy that he had agreed to go to the academy, she still had not told him one last, important thing.

"Oh, and Naruto, if any kids try to bully you, just makes sure to tell your mom. I promise I'll pummel them all and make sure that they never do that to you again, kay?" She told her son while he still held her in a tight hug.

Immediately, Naruto released his mom and looked at her with horror written over his face. Immediately, he shook his head and his hands and said, "You can't do that mom! If you do that you'll get into trouble with their parents, and dad will also get into trouble too since he's my parent too!" He had seen his mom getting angry at his dad many times in the house, and he had come to realize that one of the things that his dad feared the most, despite being the most powerful shinobi in the village, was his mom's wrath. Taking it out on kids that bullied him would certainly be effective, although he feared that this way kids would all be afraid to go near him because of his scary mom.

Kushina realized what her son meant and now it was her turn to get embarrassed, so she scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly at Naruto. Honestly, the two of them had more in common than Kushina had wished to admit, but she was happy that her son had not gotten her quick temper and tendencies to lash out violently at people who angered him. "It's okay sweetheart, I promise I won't hurt them too bad," she reassured her son.

"Mom!" A flustered Naruto began, but his mom took his hand and immediately led him out of the door, while her kid tried to keep her from what she had decided to do to those who angered her.

The two of them headed to the Ninja Academy, where Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, currently was, and was taking in the application forms of those who had wished to apply to become future ninja of the village. Today was the opening day of the academy.

_Haruno Household_

Haruno Sakura was coped up in her room, crying her eyes out after an incident that had occurred to her the previous day. She had arrived home early after spending all her time in the playing ground, but this had struck her parents as odd since they had expected her to spend all day there with her friends. However, when she came home earlier than Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno had expected, with tears threatening to spill out of her eyes, they immediately became worried. Before they could ask her what had gone wrong, she immediately dashed past them and went into the confinement of her room, locking the door and crying herself to sleep that night.

That particular morning, however, her parents had planned to take her to the academy alongside with the children of their peers. As the two of them stood in the living room wondering what to do with their daughter, Mebuki was immediately struck by an idea. She walked until her daughter's room, and knocked on it slowly, while hoping that her daughter had woken up by then. There was only an hour left until all the application forms plus the applicants had appeared at the academy, so they really did not have time to spare.

"Sakura dear, are you in there?" Mebuki asked her daughter. After hearing no reply, she continued, "I'm coming in, "while turning the handle of the door slowly. Luckily, it was unlocked, meaning that their daughter had emerged from her room in the later part of the day, possibly to relieve herself or to get a snack from the kitchen.

She slowly entered Sakura's room while making sure not to make too much noise in order not to startle at her daughter. Looking around the room, she saw that her daughter was currently cooped up in her bad, her arms around her legs, and her face buried in her knees. The older woman proceeded to tap her daughter's back in an attempt to wake her up.

Sakura's face slowly emerged from her knees and she stared into her mother's eyes. Mebuki saw the wrinkles under her daughter's hairline and realized that she had probably fallen asleep in that position. There were dried up tear lines that started from her eyes and ended at her jaw line, meaning that she had cried for a long time before she finally quieted down and drifted to sleep.

"Honey, are you okay? You didn't say anything to us yesterday when you got back from the playground, and we've been worried about you. Did something happen with your friends yesterday?" Mebuki asked her daughter, while staring into her emerald eyes. She hoped that her daughter would manage to open up to her so that she could assist her with whatever was ailing her, after Kushina had told her just how insecure that Naruto had been about joining the Ninja Academy. The first time Mebuki heard about this, she was surprised that the Hokage's son was acting this way, even admitting that he didn't want to join school. However, Kushina had tried as much as possible to make him see things from her point of view, and Mebuki realized just how wonderful a mother that made Kushina.

Her thoughts shifting back to the present, she looked into her daughter's eyes and saw the sadness that they expressed. She then saw Sakura slightly parting her lips, and felt hope welling up in her, that her daughter was finally going to open up to them, then Sakura spoke up to her mom, "Oh, it was nothing mom, I just tripped and fell when I was on the swings, and sprained my knee. It hurt so much so that's why I had cried about it. Sorry if I worried you guys so much."

Mebuki felt a slight pang of disappointment in her heart, since she felt that her daughter was not being entirely honest with her. However, her eyes moved to her daughter's knee and she saw a faint black spot there, before she realized that the injury was there. However, something still nagged at her insides, because she knew that her daughter was well past the stage of getting all teary over something as mundane as an injury from falling off a swing.

She knew that there was something that her daughter was still hiding from her, but she would do best not to pressure her into revealing it. It was always better when kids opened up to their parents on their own, without any coaxing from external influences, parents included.

"Oh, I see. Well next time make sure that you're more careful when you're playing with your friends in the park, or you'll get off with more than a knee scrape," she tried to soothe her daughter. Sakura smiled weakly at her mom, before her mom spoke up again," Why don't you get dressed up for school dear? There's no time and at this rate we'll be late and forced to postpone submitting our application form."

The next words that came out of Haruno Sakura's mouth almost made her mom leap back in shock.

"**NO!" **She almost shouted the words at her mother, who looked at her daughter with a ghastly expression on her face.

She took a moment to register what her daughter had just said, and once the words hit her fully, she looked at Sakura serenely again and said to her," Dear, what did you just say? Why don't you want to go to school today?"

Sakura stared into her mother's eyes, her expression unreadable, before her thoughts suddenly started to race and went back to what happened to her the day before in the playing ground.

"_Forehead! From now on we're going to call you Forehead, since you're forehead is so big. Wait or maybe we should call you Billboard Brow! Your forehead is so big that we could probably play billboard on it! One of the boys jeered at her._

_Soon enough, all the boys' male friends joined up in making fun of Sakura and teasing her due to the abnormally large size of her forehead. _

_Sakura, who realized at that point that she virtually had no one to play with at the park, felt tears welling up in her eyes, and began running away from that place. She ran and ran, until she realized that she was a safe distance away from the playing ground. Looking behind her to ensure that none of the boys had followed her to persist with their teasing of her, she did not notice the small stone that lay on the ground in front of her._

_Her right foot hit the stone in front of her, and she tripped and hit the ground, grazing her knee in the process. The pain stung her and shot through her entire leg, and blood oozed from the wound slowly, drops hitting the ground as she steadied herself to get up._

_Then she heard it again._

"_Hahahahahaha! Billboard Brow is a klutz! How lame! "The boys, who had just appeared once she had tripped and fallen on the ground. They seemed to have lost track of her for a while after her immediate exit from the playing ground, but once she had tripped it gave them time to catch up to her, finding her in this embarrassing predicament._

_Sakura felt the tears flowing freely down her face, but chose not to shout back at the boys. If she did, there was the chance that they could attack her physically with sticks and stones, or even worse case, tear out her hair and even rough up her clothes. So, with great difficulty, she extricated herself from the ground, and with her right foot sore at the knee, began limping towards her home._

_She had wondered whether to inform her parents about what had just happened to her, but then decided against it, since even if she informed her parents about it, there was always the off chance that the kids could find some way to get revenge against her, possibly in a worse way than just laughing and jeering at her. So she would keep quiet about the whole ordeal, fabricate a lie about what had happened to her, and continue smiling to her parents when everything was okay. Well, at least once the sharp pain in her leg had subsided._

_Once she reached home, most of the pain in her leg had faded away, so she immediately dashed into her room once her parents had opened the door to welcome her home. Then she buried her face in her knees, and slept the rest of the night away, with the memories of the day still fresh in her head._

Sakura's thoughts shifting back to the present, she realized just what she had said to her mother in response to joining the academy. There was no way she would make her mom and dad worry over what had happened to her. After all, she was in a village of ninja, and she had always heard from her dad how ninja are supposed to endure everything, every hardship that came their way.

"Sorry, mom, a slip of the tongue, I meant that yes, I will get myself ready and go to the Ninja Academy, along with you and dad. Best not to keep Hokage-sama waiting, after all," Sakura said, and completed the sentence with a chuckle that seemed force more than anything else. Lucky for her, her mom did not notice this.

Mebuki got up from Sakura's bed, and once she had steadied herself upright so that she was looking at her daughter from a higher position. "Well, if you say so then. Come to the living room once you're done, and make sure not to keep me and your dad waiting." And with that, she opened the door to the room and made her way outside, in higher spirits since she had managed to deal with whatever had been tormenting her daughter. Or at least she thought she did.

Once she was out of the room, Sakura immediately rushed to the door and while leaning her back on it and shutting it firmly, she muttered to herself, "There's no way they can find out. I won't let anyone else know about this."

With that, she got to preparing herself for the day that lay ahead of her.

_Konoha Academy_

Uchiha Sasuke was seated in front of the gate, on the bench that sat there for any and all visitors who wished to take a break once they had been done with their activities for the day in school. He was already a student of the academy, owing to his early arrival at the place that morning, plus his submittance of his application form alongside his dad and his older brother.

His dad, Fugaku Uchiha, was the clan head of the Uchiha. This meant that he was always up to his neck in his duties regarding the clan, but still, he always managed to squeeze in some time for his two sons, Sasuke and his older brother, Uchiha Itachi. Spending most of his free periods training with both his children and helping them hone their skills, he ensured that they grew up into respectable Uchiha men who would one day lead the clan that he would have entrusted to them.

Amidst all the free time that he had allotted to spend time with his children and also his wife, he had also included the day that they would become students at the Ninja Academy. When Itachi had joined the academy seven years ago, he had accompanied his wife, Mikoto Uchiha to take their son to his first day as a student. Although he had insisted on taking him early in the morning so that he could have more time to spend on his clan duties, Mikoto was still happy that her husband had been there for their son's first day as a ninja.

Now the same day had appeared for Sasuke, and whilst he was hppy that his dad had also been there for him on his first day of school, their early arrival at the institution that morning had subjected him to a day's worth of boredom. He could not go home since his dad was busy consulting with the other clan elders, his brother Itachi was out performing his duties for the ANBU, and his mom was busy with house chores, so she could not spare time to play with him or his ninja toys.

He decided to spend the better part of the day at the academy, since he was curious what kind of classmates he would have in his year. As Itachi left him in the care of the teachers at the academy, he told him to make sure that he "made as many friends as possible." Sasuke did not understand why his brother had not told him this, although the more and more he pondered about it he realized that it was probably something to do with establishing friendly relations with the children from other clans in the villages, so as to give the Uchiha Clan a good reputation in the eyes of the villagers.

However, he had other goals in mind, since his idea of friends was people that he could spend time with when his family was too busy for him. He got up from his feet and decided to take a look around at all the people who had arrived in the school by then. It was nearly noon, so the academy by now was half-full of young children his age that had been dropped off after they had been registered into the academy. Their parents had probably left them there for the same reason that he had: to socialize with the kids their age and foster good relationships within the young folk of the village.

Sasuke's eyes quickly scanned the area in search of any kids that didn't seem occupied talking to their peers so that he could make his first friend. Then he spotted her.

She stood under one of the trees that stretched out and nearly touched the academy walls, providing an ample source of shade for anyone who needed it. She was staring out into the sun, and on closer look Sasuke noticed that she had crimson eyes, and fair skin. She was clad in a brown jacket, and black tight shorts, but what really captured Sasuke's attention was the nature of her hair. Her hair was strikingly red, much like the hair that belonged to Sasuke's "aunt", as his mother liked to refer to her on her visits to her home, Kushina. However, it wasn't as smooth as Kushina's hair was. The girl's hair was short and spiky on the right side, and on the left side it was longer and straight, giving her the appearance of being spiky and somewhat unkempt on one side, while neat and tidy on the other side. To top it all off, the girl was bespectacled, something which amused Sasuke to no end, as he had never seen anyone quite like the girl on his walks within the village accompanied by his big brother, Itachi.

Sasuke wondered what business the girl had being within the Ninja Academy, and for a second wondered whether she was lost and was debating whether to go into the academy grounds and seek assistance. However, the way she looked into the distance gave the look of someone who was waiting for someone, so Sasuke immediately wondered what she was doing waiting for someone within the academy grounds in the first place. If it was her parents she was waiting for, it would not make sense since that would mean that she had gotten here before them. That didn't feel quite right, so Sasuke surmised that she must have been waiting for her friend or guardian. Guardian most likely, since if she was waiting for her friends she could have just decided to stay with the other kids while awaiting her guardian's arrival, so it meant that the guardian had to be nearby.

Sasuke got up from his bench, and his mind was set. He would go and strike a conversation within the strange and mysterious girl, maybe in time before her guardian appeared and whisked away from the premises. He made a mental note to ask his mom that evening why his "aunt's" hair was strikingly red, since he had always wondered what made her hair that colorful. He had decided to brush it off as something that happened once in a blue moon, because heck even the Hokage's hair was yellow, so seeing red hair wasn't that odd. However, the presence of this new girl made his curiosity well up within him, so he was determined to find out why. His gut instincts told him that this would definitely be a good experience and so he moved his feet quicker, to talk to the girl.

However, it happened as soon as he was a stone's throw away from the girl. Immediately, the door of the academy swung open, and a tall man emerged from the building. Sasuke immediately realized that he was standing in the tall man's shadow, before the man turned forward to where the red-headed girl was standing. After a few minutes of hushed conversation between the girl and the man, the two of them began walking away from the academy. Their objective at the building had been finished, Sasuke thought, as he watched the two people walk away from the building and heading into the outskirts of the village.

Sasuke's immediate thought was to call out to the girl, but before he could stretch out his hand to call out to her, he held back his anxiety. He realized that even if he called her, he would have nothing to talk to her about, so it would be a pointless effort. Instead, he would wait for the next time that he would meet her, since there was a feeling in his gut that was telling him that he would probably see more of the girl from that day onward.

The registering process at the academy went on as planned, without any major events happening or any unexpected interference or external factors. However, the new students were told not to stray away from the academy, since later on in the evening, they would be called back into the building to be introduced to all their new instructors, plus to get an introductory speech from Hokage-sama. After Kushina had decided to stay behind to spend some time with his dad, Uzumaki Naruto decided to roam the academy grounds to satisfy his ever-growing boredom.

He was walking behind the building when he caught site of a beautiful Sakura tree that was growing in the earth around there. To make the matter better, the tree was shedding its beautiful pink flowers, and the ground that lay around the tree was littered by these flowers. Naruto was mesmerized by the sight that was in front of him, before he noticed that there was someone who was seated in the branches of the tree.

Her eyes were emerald, her hair a bright shade of pink, much like the bubble gum that Naruto saw being sold in Konoha store on his trips with the mom when she was going to shop for groceries. The girl had fair skin, and by the way she was hunched over the branch she was seated on, Naruto registered that she was probably crying her eyes out. Naruto failed to see why she was crying in such beautiful scenery, but staring at the girl's hair, he felt an odd sense of nostalgia. He had met this girl before, but he could not point out exactly where, so he shifted the matter to the back of his head.

To get her attention, Naruto decided to call out to the scenery that lay before his eyes at the moment, in hopes that the girl would hear him. "Sakura, how pretty, at this time of the year. I wish mom would have told me about this earlier, and then I could have felt more motivated to come to school today," Naruto muttered, loud enough for the girl to hear him. With a slight feeling of happiness in his heart, he saw the girl's face slowly turn towards him, and in that moment, emerald eyes met blue eyes. The scene could not be prettier with the swirling cherry blossoms that were in the air around them.

Then, Naruto noticed the cheeks of the girl turn a faint tinge of red, and she looked away. She was so adorably cute, and Naruto also felt his cheeks turning red after the girl was embarrassed. Then, the girl raised a foot, and descended from the tree, so that she could get a closer look of the boy who had just appeared, and also unknowingly complimented her. Not that she didn't mind it, of course, but she wondered how the boy had come to learn of her name.

And thus, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura officially met for the first time.

Sakura looked at the boy before her with an odd curiosity. The boy had whisker marks on his cheeks, something which Sakura found really odd but it added to his already handsome features. Sakura realized that the boy had yellow hair and blue eyes, much like what Hokage-sama looked like, so she wondered whether he was related to him in some way. Or unless he was from the Yamanaka clan, since Sakura realized that his hair was faintly similar to that of her friend, Yamanaka Ino.

Immediately, Sakura stretched out her hand to greet the new boy that she had met, and once he took the gesture, she said, breaking the silence that was in the air between the two children, "Well thank you for the compliment. I didn't realize that some boys knew about me in our village. Mom always tells me that I don't have much of a presence due to my timid nature, so I appreciate the compliment, really."

Naruto, who realized just how soft the girl's hand was, upon taking it in his slightly rough, manly hand, was struck by a sudden sense of nostalgia again. He had held the girl's hand before, but he simply could not put a finger on when he had. He certainly could not forget a pretty face like hers, and if he did, well he could not call himself the Fourth Hokage's son.

The girl's words to him made him perplexed, since he could not remember uttering even a single compliment to her since he had showed up in this area. Suddenly retracing his thoughts to the first thing he had said when he appeared there, which was the breathtaking beauty of the Sakura tree that was just behind the two youngsters. He put two and two together, and that was how he discovered the name of the girl that was in front of him.

"So your name is Sakura, then?"

"Well, yes, I thought you already knew that. You did call my name a few moments earlier. My name is Haruno Sakura."

"Oh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I didn't mean to startle you, but well I was talking about the tree behind you."

Uzumaki Naruto was too honest for his own good, a trait that he had picked up from his dad. His dad had always told him that honesty was a virtue, and he was never supposed to sugarcoat things or lie to people, even those who he had just met.

"I'm sorry. What did you just say?" Sakura asked the blonde boy, with a slight feeling of irritation inside her. She had hoped that the boy had not said what she had thought he had said, because if he did he would be in for a world of pain.

"I said, I was complimenting the beauty of the Sakura tree that is behind you, not you, I'm sorry if I seemed to have cause some sort of misunderstanding," Naruto said again, oblivious to the damage that he had just caused to the young girl before him.

Sakura's cheeks heated up in embarrassment, and she felt a vein twitch in her forehead due to anger, so she raised a fist ready to clobber the boy that stood before her. She was similar to Uzumaki Kushina, in ways that Naruto would soon come to learn of, albeit painfully.

The girl's fist connected with his face, and he fell to the ground in a fit of pain. Once he had hit the ground, he immediately threw his hands over his head to protect himself from any other lashes that the girl would have thrown out at him. Sakura stared at the ground where the boy lay, and grinned satisfactorily after noticing that she had hit the mark.

"Ow,! What the hell! You punch almost as hard as my mom, you know!"

"That's what you get for raising my hopes up you little twerp! I almost thought for a moment there you were complimenting me you know!"

"Well you know I could have, if you didn't clobber me over the head with your fist! That seriously friggin hurt you know!"  
>At once, Sakura withdrew her balled hand, and felt her cheeks turn red in embarrassment once again. However, this time she felt a small smile creep up on the edges of her mouth.<p>

"Wait, you were going to compliment me?"

"Well, yeah, you're quite pretty. I think you're the second prettiest girl I've ever met in my life."

Sakura felt curiosity well up in her, because she wondered just who was the first girl that the boy had found prettier than her. An odd feeling welled up in her; something akin to a bit of frustration at hearing that there was someone who the boy had found prettier than her.

"Who else, of course, but my mom!"

Naruto grinned at the young girl as he said this, and Sakura could not help but notice that the boy's smile was as bright as the sun. All of a sudden, she felt the grief and sadness that she had been feeling before ebb away in her, and she started laughing heartily.

"Why are you laughing? My mom's the prettiest, ya know!"

Naruto exclaimed again, but Sakura continued to laugh. Naruto stared at her, wondering just what he had said to make her laugh, but he felt happier that she had a better expression on her face this time. It was way better than she looked earlier when she was crying up in the tree.

She quieted down a little, and then said, "I'm sorry, but I think you're the first kid I've met who has said that their mom is the prettiest in the world."

"Well, what do the other boys say when you ask them?" A curious Naruto inquired.

"They don't say anything, really. Only tease me constantly and make me feel worse than I already do."

At this moment, Sakura realized that she had indulged in the boy before her something which she had sworn not to tell anyone about. It wasn't really much, but still she had told him something that she felt she could not tell anyone else. Wondering why, she looked at the boy before her, and realized that he made her feel safe, secure and that he probably wouldn't hurt her as much as the other boys did.

"What do they tease you about?" Naruto asked again, his curiosity getting the better of him.

But before Sakura could say anything else, a voice called out to her from behind the two youngsters. Naruto looked behind to see who had just appeared, while Sakura's face beamed with ecstasy. The girl had blue eyes, although a bit paler than Naruto's eyes, and her hair was a pale blonde, almost like his. She had a bright blue pin on the right side of her head, and Naruto noticed that she almost looked similar to him.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?"

"Ino-chan!" Sakura exclaimed happily, at the sight of her best friend.

"Who's the boy?" A perplexed Ino asked after laying her eyes on Uzumaki Naruto for the first time.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto introduced himself to the new girl that had just appeared before him and Sakura.

"I'm Ino. Yamanaka Ino." Ino said. Then she turned to Sakura, and told her, "Come on, Sakura, let's go. I promised that we would play together today, didn't i?"

Sakura's face immediately lit up in realization, before she turned to Ino and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, Ino-chan! I almost forgot, let's go!"

Sakura then walked towards her blonde friend, but once she had reached her, she turned back and faced Naruto, who was still looking at the two girls before him in amusement.

"Well then, bye Naruto," she said, as she waved him goodbye.

Naruto smiled at her, before saying, "Bye then, Sakura-chan!"

A flustered Sakura then left the scene with Ino, and Naruto was left staring into the sky, while thinking, "Maybe school won't be as bad as I originally thought."

**A/N: ** Finally done! After hours and hours of constant typing, Chapter 5 is up and ready. As usual, don't forget to read and review! NARUSAKU IS LOVE, NARUSAKU IS LIFE!


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